Romney Rivals Prepare for Last Stand in South Carolina

With the GOP presidential primary battle moving into a crucial stage, front-runner Mitt Romney is facing a bruising battle in South Carolina.

The former Massachusetts governor’s opponents fear the state, which holds its primary Jan. 21, is their last chance to stop him, The Washington Post reported.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich began running ads about Romney's past support for abortion rights, and hammered away at Romney for being a venture capitalist. A pro-Gingrich super PAC has posted online a half-hour movie about Romney’s days at Bain Capital and will spend $3.4 million to run excerpts from the movie on television, the Post reported.

Gingrich’s spokesman R.C. Hammond told the Post, “The goal is to get rid of Romney. Our goal is to remove Mitt Romney from the competitive ranks.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also continued to attack Romney for his work at Bain Capital. “Venture capitalism is good,” Perry said in a campaign stop, the Post reported. “But vulture capitalism, I’ve got no use for.”

However, GOP leaders fear that attacking Romney’s role as a venture capitalist could damage not only Romney but also the Republican Party.

Romney said he did not expect such attacks from the GOP.

“We’ve understood for a long time that the Obama people would come after free enterprise,” he said, according to the Post. “I’m a little surprised to see Newt Gingrich as the first witness to the prosecution. But I don’t think that’s going to hurt my purpose. Frankly, if I can’t take a few shots coming from my colleagues on the Republican side, I’m not ready for Barack Obama.”